As someone who’s been following Horizon: Zero Dawn quite closely i can say this a trailer we desperately needed. Guerrilla Games had to show us that there’s more to Horizon than cool sci-fi art direction and jaw-dropping visuals. They needed to show us that there’s an actual narrative taking place. While previous trailers have hinted at Horizon’s story, this is the first time we get to see Aloy’s eventual allies and villains and a sneak peek at what the ultimate struggle will be.
“The Massacre was only the beginning.”
We hear a strained Aloy utter these words, mentioning “The Massacre” and “Who did this to us.” From what we see in the trailer and from her exchange with the older lady, its safe to say Aloy’s journey begins soon after her village is attacked. During these scenes we see Aloy has tribal headgear as well as the other villagers surrounding her. The older lady, probably the leader, insists everyone pray to the Goddess but Aloy refuses to participate so passively, she elects to “find the killers” and presumably exact revenge.
This is most likely where we begin our journey as Aloy is told she must leave the “Sacred land.” I’m not sure, in terms of gameplay, how much time we’ll spend on the sacred land but i’m assuming it’ll be home-base and perhaps where we’ll do most of the tutorial work similar to how The Witcher 3 was set up in the early going.
What follows is a quick montage of some of the many locales we’ve been introduced to since the game’s announcement accompanied by an incredible score. We see Aloy riding a broadhead overlooking this great city which is clearly her destination. How explorable will this enormous city be? I’m hoping it’ll be better than what Final Fantasy 15 offered with Altissia which was a total letdown, albeit a gorgeous letdown.
We learn from a brief yet interesting exchange in the trailer that the city is called Meridian. Aloy is addressed as Aloy of Anora, so she is known around these parts. She warns, who we can assume is the leader of Meridian, about “men in masks raising up ancient machines.” I guess we know where those corrupted machines came from when we first saw them at Sony’s E3 2016 presser. We catch a glimpse of who the leader of these men in masks is and he looks pretty badass.
“I will raise an army. A storm of shadows to take back whats ours”
We don’t get a name for this menacing leader but interestingly enough, his motivations seem rooted in something that happened long ago perhaps related to what happened to the earth that wiped out pretty much everyone. Or could he be referring to The Massacre? It could be possible he’s fighting the same war Aloy is but doing it an overly aggressive and destructive manner like reanimating machines to do his bidding.
“You’ve come a long way since the (Citadel?)”
A mysterious hologram person speaks to Aloy. He says he’s an “interested party.” This is fascinating stuff, who is this guy and why is he a hologram? At first i thought maybe Aloy is viewing him using her specialized ear piece that is able to visualize many points of interests for her but it doesn’t seem to be glowing very much or emanating light like it usually does.
He does know her and probably since she was very little but we don’t get much information after that. The character is actually played by Lance Reddick who has been getting a lot of video game work recently with roles in Destiny and Quantum Break.
As the trailer rolls along we’re shown some more action scenes but we also catch a group declaring their support and aid for Aloy. This could be a crucial gameplay element having the player befriend and earn favor with certain tribes in order to receive back-up for when it counts. Vice versa if you displease or murder other tribes, you’ll be hunted on sight which would create some compelling and dynamic moments.
There’s this huge explosion that occurs by the end of the trailer which reveals an immense spider-like machine. Who else is reminded of the MAWLR from Killzone 3? Am i the only one? How in the world are we supposed to fight that thing? I’m not sure but i can’t wait to try.
The trailer ends with Lance Reddick delivering an ominous line, “There’s so much more to discover, before the world ends.” We see Aloy approaching this blue light, likely a doorway to whatever big twist Guerrilla Games has cooked up for us.
What does he mean by before the world ends? Before the world ends again and start anew? And if so, what civilization would follow next? Whats with the machines in the first place? I need to know and i’m sure most of you would like to as well.
What did you think of the trailer? Are you even more hyped for Horizon Zero Dawn? Leave your thoughts down below.
Horizon Zero Dawn launches exclusively on PS4 on February 28th 2017.
